"I am confident that the new Congress would be prepared to cooperate if Russia is prepared to cooperate with America," Cruz stated.
The Republican senator said Russia's current actions, including "invading sovereign nations and demonstrating hostility and aggressiveness to its neighbors" are inconsistent with "being welcomed into the community of the civilized nations."
Relations between Russia and the United States have been tense, and deteriorated amid the Ukrainian crisis. The West accused Russia of involvement in the Ukrainian crisis. Moscow has repeatedly denied the allegations and emphasized the necessity to settle the conflict peacefully through a dialogue.
The United States, the European Union and a number of their allies introduced a range of sanctions, targeting Russia's banking, energy and defense sectors. In response, Russia imposed embargo on food imports from the countries which announced restrictions against it.
